This invention is directed to toys of the general classification wherein an object is moved with respect to a moving member, and if the movement of the obejct and the moving member is not coordinated, an encounter between the object and the moving member is displayed to the user of the toy. Furthermore, the toy includes a reflective surface through which the object and the moving member are viewed. The reflective surface moves in conjunction with the moving member and modifies the image of the moving member and the object.
A large variety of mechanisms are known which are either classified as toys or as driver training aids, which utilize moving belts, moving discs and the like, which carry on them images of cars, airplanes and the like, through which the operator of the toy or training aid attempts to negotiate a vehicle or the like under the control of the operator of the toy or training aid.
These known devices have a range of complexity ranging from devices wherein actual physical implements are located on a moving disk and become lodged against, or abutt up next to, the object which the operator is controlling, to other devices wherein complex arrays of electrical switches are utilized to sense the encounter between the object controlled by the operator and the background objects carried on the disks, drums, film strip or the like.
The use of disks, drums or the like having simulated moving objects which are painted, added as decals or the like, is limited with respect to the type of motion which can be created. Disks and drums, by their very nature, are circular, and thus have a finite surface area in which to create an obstacle pathway, such as a road way or the like, incorporating objects which act as obstacles. Film strips can only have a finite length in order to be practical, and as such, they are also somewhat limited as to the pathway produced for the operator to traverse.
Additionally, in order to detect a "crash", or other interaction between the objects under the operator's control, and the background objects on the disk, drum, film strip or the like, something must be included on the disk, drum, film strip or the like which can sense a "crash", or encounter. This leads to undue complexity, which in turn increases manufacturing costs.
In the toy arts, manufacturing costs can be of paramount importance. While an extremely sophisticated mechanism could be developed for a flight simulator for training airline pilots, such a mechanism is, of course, totally unusable in a toy because of its complexity and its cost. Therefore, in the toy arts, the realism of these devices are sometimes compromised in view of the economics of manufacture.